Conference
Lyric Poetry in Shakespeare’s Plays
19-20 June 2026
University of Geneva
Bâtiment des Philosophes, Boulevard des Philosophes 22, Room Phil 211
Conference Programme
Friday, 19th June
09.00 – 09.30 Arrival
09.30 – 09.45 Introduction
09.45 – 10.30 Charlotte Potter (University of Geneva), Shakespeare's Shared Sonnets in Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard II
10.30 – 11.15 Bethany Dubow (University of Oxford), ‘In a Double Sense’: Shakespeare’s Catalectic Line
11.15 – 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 – 12.15 Ted Tregear (University of Oxford), Songs, Sonnets, Riddles
12.15 – 13.45 Lunch break
13.45 – 14.30 Gavin Alexander (University of Cambridge), Shakespeare in the Lyric Moment
14.30 – 15.15 Katie Mennis (University of Cambridge), Shakespeare’s Negative Lyric Capability
15.15 – 15.30 Coffee Break
15.30 – 16.15 Patrick Cheney (Penn State University), Shakespeare’s Authorship of Lyric in the Plays: Comedy, Tragedy, History, Romance
16.15 – 16.45 Roundtable 1
Saturday, 20th June
09.00 – 09.30 Arrival
09.30 – 10.15 Colin Burrow (University of Oxford), What Makes a Lyric Shakespeare’s? Love’s Labour’s Lost and the Responsibilities of Authorship
10.15 – 11.00 Dympna Callaghan (Syracuse University ), ‘Poor bird, thou singest not’ (Lucrece)
11.00 – 11.15 Coffee break
11.15 – 12.00 Cathy Shrank (University of Sheffield), Verses of Seduction and Committal: The ‘Songs’ in Cymbeline
12.00 – 13.30 Lunch break
13.30 – 14.15 Raphael Lyne (University of Cambridge), Memory and Time in Shakespeare’s Dramatic Lyrics
14.15 – 15.00 Henry S. Woudhuysen (University of Oxford), Poems and Songs in the First Folio: Texts and Typography
15.00 – 15.15 Coffee Break
15.15 – 16.00 David Schalkwyk (Queen Mary, University of London), The ‘Event’ of the Sonnet: The Individual Reader vs. Theatrical Performance
16.00 – 16.45 Roundtable 2